My flight from Vancouver to Toronto was scheduled to depart at 11:30AM, so I arrived at the airport at around 9:30AM. That’s a bit early for a domestic flight, but I still had to work to get done and my flight wouldn’t have wifi, so I figured I might as well finish working from the lounge.

I was dropped off by the hotel shuttle at Air Canada’s domestic terminal, which had a bright and airy check-in hall.

Vancouver Airport domestic terminal check-in

I walked all the way towards the left, where Air Canada’s premium check-in was located. My check-in was processed pretty quickly, though the agent could only issue my boarding passes as far as London (and not my connections from London to Johannesburg to Cape Town).

I couldn’t help but notice how friendly all the check-in agents were. Not just mine, but also those to the left and right of me, based on what I overheard. I guess it’s reflective of Canadians in general, but I’ve found them to be such friendly people overall.

Air Canada business class check-in Vancouver Airport

I proceeded towards the security checkpoint for the “C” gates. The queue was only very short, but on top of that there was a premium line, so I was through in less than five minutes.

Then there were two kinds of coffee machines (the one on the right made really good coffee).

Air Canada Lounge coffee machine Vancouver Airport

There was a selection of tea.

Air Canada Lounge tea selection Vancouver Airport

There was also a Vivreau water dispenser, which had both still and sparkling water.

Air Canada Lounge water machine Vancouver Airport

Lunch was brought out at 11AM, and was quite impressive as well. There were two types of tasty salads, olives, pickles, two types of soup, sandwiches, and a variety of really tasty cookies.

Air Canada Lounge lunch spread Vancouver Airport

Air Canada Lounge lunch spread Vancouver Airport

Air Canada Lounge lunch spread Vancouver Airport

Air Canada Lounge lunch spread Vancouver Airport

Air Canada Lounge lunch spread Vancouver Airport

Air Canada Lounge cookies Vancouver Airport

Overall I thought the food spread was exceptional, especially given that this is expressly a domestic lounge (there are separate lounges for international and transborder passengers). US carriers could learn a thing or two from Air Canada.

Unfortunately my stay in the lounge wasn’t uneventful. At around 10AM I was paged in the lounge, which is rarely good news. As it turned out, this was because South African Airways canceled my flight from London to Johannesburg.

Air Canada has “concierges” stationed at all their major airports, who help business class passengers and top tier elites in the event things go wrong, so I got to experience the benefit of this firsthand. It’s actually sort of amazing they caught the cancellation before I did, because I hadn’t realized anything was wrong with that flight.

Suffice to say that I was really impressed by the proactive way in which Air Canada handled the situation.

The other issue was that my Vancouver to Toronto flight was delayed due to a mechanical. So while it was originally scheduled to depart at 11:30AM, it was first announced that it was delayed until 12PM, and then that it was delayed until 12:30PM.

I headed to the departure gate, C49, at around 12PM. This was just as the plane was being towed to the gate from the maintenance hangar, so within a few minutes the crew boarded. Finally at 12:15PM boarding was called, starting with business class via the priority lane.

Departure gate to Toronto

Departure gate to Toronto

Air Canada Lounge Vancouver bottom line

While it wasn’t the most modern lounge in the world, overall I was very impressed. The food and drink selection was fantastic for a domestic lounge. But perhaps what I was most impressed by was the Air Canada concierge, Sanja, who was so proactive and saved the day. If she hadn’t caught the cancellation when she did, I would have probably incurred a significant delay in getting to South Africa.

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About luckyBen Schlappig (aka Lucky) is a travel consultant, blogger, and avid points collector.
He travels about 400,000 miles a year, primarily using miles and points to fund his first class experiences.
He chronicles his adventures, along with industry news, here at One Mile At A Time.

Good to hear you enjoyed YVR and the Maple Leaf lounge. It is quite silly that alcoholic beverages aren’t available before 11am. It is very civilised to enjoy a pint of Guinness while watching the action on the apron!

Although I fly exclusively on OW carriers these days due to my London base and mainly eastbound travels, I still look forward to flying AC whenever the opportunity presents itself. It is still the only airline where I can get a real glass of caesar cocktail (Clamato is an acquired taste 🙂 My peak AC years were 2008-2012. The domestic J product is far superior to any intra-Europe product I have experienced since moving to this side of the pond. The international J product is pretty competitive, and preferable over same class from BA/LH (but not LX). The international Y product used to be quite tolerable (did a YYZ-HKG in the back of the 77L when it was only 9-across and my employment contract less generous), but I shall steer clear of the high-density Y configurations in the 777 and 787 fleet. Overall, I have found AC to be a solid performer. Many Canadians like to badmouth AC, but like most complaints in Canada, that’s probably because they have no idea how good they have it, when compared to the rest of the world.

I was in this loung back in February arround noon. It was fairly crowded but ok, the beer selection has to be the best thing in the lounge. I managed to get an earlier flight to Toronto and fly the 787 for the first time, so that was nice.

@Lucky “though the agent could only issue my boarding passes as far as Frankfurt (and not my connections from Frankfurt to Johannesburg to Cape Town).”
Weren’t you still heading to London at this point?

I’ve been to that Maple Leaf lounge at YVR and indeed it is nice. Not sure if that one has showers (I was also there mid-day and already clean!) but the international Maple Leaf lounge in Toronto has and they’re good, especially before an overnight flight. AC’s lounges make the Admiral’s Club or Red Carpet Club look pathetic with their shortbread cookies wrapped in plastic.

As I’ve said before – anyone who complains about Air Canada must simply have never flown on a US carrier.

On the “no alcohol before 11am” thing – that’s a general rule in keeping with liquor licensing rules and is that case in most Canadian provinces. That said, it’s worth remembering that the legal drinking age is either 18 or 19 – as opposed to 21 in the US, so that’s a plus for younger travellers out there 😉

I recently visited the transborder AC lounge at YVR and it looks like they have the same spread as they do in the domestic lounge. It also looked identical to the spread they had at the YUL international lounge as well. My only complaint is that in the afternoon, once they run out of sandwiches, they do not seem to replace them (at least in Montreal), which seemed odd as there were quite a few flights leaving at the time I was there. Overall, a nicer feel than a US carrier’s lounge. But on the same trip, I visited UA’s lounge at SFO and they seem to be adding nicer food, with salad on offer these days. So US carriers are improving, slowly.

Hi Lucky,
Back in the day, when there was Canadian/CP Air and AC, that was the CP lounge. So it is a pretty good domestic lounge, because AC “inherited” it from CP. But I don’t think it’s indicative of the overall quality of domestic lounges AC has across the country. Funnily enough, the international lounge at YVR isn’t better. It’s a tad smaller with not as many diverse options for sitting, working, etc., as the domestic. Montreal might be a better example where the international lounge is spacious and newly renovated and inviting whereas the domestic is a little like a dentist’s waiting room.

Yes, the 11:00AM liquor service is a provincial government rule, no liquor service anywhere at YVR before 11:00. Unlike Alberta, there is a travelers liquor license bars and restaurants can apply for and most at YEG (can’t specially speak towards YYC) have the license. If you want a Hoegarden at 7:00AM, there is a really good Belgian style Cafe, otherwise they all serve liquor as soon as they open for service. However, I believe the MLL does not and it’s either they have chosen the social responsibility route and roll out the liquor at 11:00; they want to save money; or, can’t get that license. Not sure. I don’t get why airports say at Vancouver and Toronto don’t follow Alberta’s lead – they are leaving a pile of liquor tax money behind from people that arn’t going anywhere except on a plane. Need to get with the times…

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